Musical-instrument body and method of making same



y 1930- E. c. BREMERMAN 1,769,105

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT BODY AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed July :30, 1927 lllll II INVENTORQ A TTORNEY.

Patented July 1, 1930 UNITED STATES- EDWARD C. BREMERMAN, OF- INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA MUSICAL-INSTRUMENT BODY AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Application filed July 30, 1927. Serial No. 209,625.

The present invention relates to such musical instruments as banjos, drums, and various musical strin instruments, especially such as have hea s or sounding-boards to obtain resonance, including pianos, music boxes, and talkin machines using music records, the invention having reference more particularly to the instrument bod includmg the head or resonant element t ereof.

An object of the invention is to provide improvements in resonant elements of musical instruments, such as those in instruments of the above-mentioned character, to attain resonance of high quality and constancy.

Another object is to provide improved musical instrument structures which shall have resonant elements'of such character as to be adapted to produce richness in tone qualities, and have permanence and constancy without requiring repeated adjustments.

A further object is to provide an improved resonant element and its frame or support which shall be of such structure as to be adapted to be incorporated in various musical instruments, whereby to attain improved tonal quality and permanence and which shall be of simple and durable charenter and not require adjustments in the course of o erations.

A still urther object is to provide improvements in both the resonant elements and the frames of bodies of banjos and othor musical instruments, and in the method of making the same, to the end that, superior and attractive instruments may be provided at reasonable cost and which shall be durable and economical in use.

With the above-mentioned and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel structures in musical instruments, and in the parts and combinations and arrangements thereof, and also in the novel method of making the same, as hereinafter particularly described and further defined in the accompanying claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a front view of a banjo con structed substantially in accordance with the the strings, the major portion of the neck being broken away.

Similar reference characters in the different figures of the drawings indicate corresponding elements or features of construction herein referred to in detail.

In the drawings the numeral 1 indicates the key-head and 2 the neck of the banjo which may be of well-known or any desired construction generally, but for the purposes of the inventlon is provided on its shoulder end with a tie-bar 3, preferably composed of wood and having a screw 4: on one end that is secured in'the end of the neck 2, the opposite end of the tie-bar being provided with a screw stud 5 provided on its end with a screw nut 6, whereby to adjustably secure the neck to the body of the instrument.

The ring or frame portion of the instrument, for the purposes of the invention, has considerable thickness to afford the required strength and preferably is composed of wood veneering wrapped layer upon layer continuously, so that there are a suitable number of laminating rings 7, 7 to afiord the required thickness, the layers being glued together. Separate bead rings 8 and 9 preferably are provided and fitted onto the body part and securely glued thereto. One portion of the bodyframe part has an aperture 10 therein to receive the tie-bar 3, the shoulder end of the neck being fitted to the exterior of the frame part, and the opposite' portion of the frame part has a slot 11 therein to receive the stud 5, and obviously could be sufliciently large to receive the end portion of the tie-bar if desired. The frame part is provided with a slotted face plate 12 at the outer end of the slot 11 permitting the stud to project through it so that the nut (3 may have a metallic bearing in operation as it secures the neck adjustably to the body of the instrument.

The resonant element of the instrument, being the head part of the body of a banjo or of a drum, is disk-like in shape and may be composed of any suitable material lending itself to the treatment contemplated by the method involved in the inyention, the most satisfactory results being attained by the use of wood Yeneering, any suitable number of layers being used, depending somewhat upon the thickness of the veneering. Preferably three disks 13, 14c and 15 composed of veneering are arranged with the grain or fibers of the wood crossed in .ach layer relatively to the next adjacent layer or layers and securely glued together. The resultant laminated head is permanently attached to the normally upper end of the ring or body frame part, preferably by means of glue. The opposite or bottom end of the frame part has a suitable number of notches 1G and a suitable bottom 17 is secured to the bottom end.

he banjo is provided with a conventional or other suitable tail piece 18, the keyhead being provided with suitable stringkeys 19, with which the usual strings 20 are connected.

The method of making the resonant element or head and applying it to its supporting ring or frame consists in applying glue to layers of veneering or other material capable of absorbing moisture, in superimposing the layers, thus making a laminated sheet or plate *hich is partially covered with paratline paper or the like or by other non-absorbent material and placed in a press and held under pressure until the glue becomes suliiciently set to hold, the veneering material absorbing moisture from the glue, while drying is retarded by the covering, after which the marginal portion which has begun to dry is glued to the holding ring under pressure and rigidly held while the laminated sheet becomes dry, the drying process causing uniform shrinkage and radial strains resulting in a taut and resonant head or sounding-board when thoroughly dried, which is facilitated by removing from the press when the marginal or edge portion of the disk becomes dry and secured to the ring and the parafiine paper then removed, permitting further drying and shrinking of the main portion of the head which then is non-removably secured at its edge to the ring or frame so as to be practically integral therewith and under permanent centripetal tension, with the attainment of a high degree of resonance of rich tone quality.

The application of the resonant element and its supporting ring is not limited to portable hand instruments nor to circular instruments, since the ring or body portion frame may be mounted in a casing of any desired shape, such as that of a violin, a guitar, or a piano sounding-board.

In practical use an instrument having the invention applied thereto retains the quality of tone without requiring any-adjustments, the proper finishing and ornamenting having been done in a factory, so that the instrument. is not affected by climatic infiuences, the resonant element therefore permanently remaining under strain and required tension. \Vhen it is desired to adjust the neck so as to change its angularity relatively to the plane of the resonant head, after loosening the nut 6 the neck is tilted to the desired degree, the stud 5 shifting in the slot 11, after which the nut is again tightened; such adjustment enabling the player to vary the space between the neck and the strings.

\Vhat is claimed as new is:

1. A musical instrument including an annular body frame, and a laminated head rigidly secured non-removably to the frame under permanent centripetal tension.

2. A musical instrun'ient including a nonyielding body frame and a disk-like resonant head non-removably secured rigidly at its edge to one face of the frame and under permanent centripetal tension.

3. A musical. instrument body including a fibrous artificially solidified circular ring, and a fibrous artificially solidified resonant disk permanently secured to the face of one end of the ring.

4. A musical instrument body having a laminated unyielding ring, a head permanently secured at its edge to the face of one end of the ring and constantly under centripetal tension on the ring, and a bottom secured to the opposite end of the ring.

A musical instrument body having a laminated rigidly circular ring composed of a continuous veneering strip wrapped layer upon layer and the layers secured immovably together, a resonant head permanently secured to the face of one end of the ring substantially integrally therewith, and a bottom secured to the opposite end face of the ring.

6. A musical instrument body including a ring composed of a continuous wood veneering strip wrapped layer upon layer and the layers rigidly secured directly together, and a head composed of wood veneer disks glued together, one of the disks having its marginal portion glued to adjacent edges of all the layers of the ring, the head having inherent permanent centripetal tension on the ring and uniformly on the plane of the head.

7. A musical instrument body having a head comprising a plurality of wood veneer layers superimposed one upon another and intimately glued together throughout and a non-yielding frame immovably fixed directly to the mar 'nal portion only of the undermost one o the veneer layers, constituting a supporting frame and a resonant head substantially integral with the frame.

8. The method of making a resonant musicalinstrument body consisting in dampening a fibrous disk, in rigidly securing the marginal portion of the dampened disk with glue to one end of a ring and drying the marginal portion while retarding drying of the body portion of the disk, and finally facilitating the complete drying of the disk.

9. The method of making a resonant musical instrument body consisting in reparing a fibrous ring, gluing layers 0 wood veneering together to make a head covering the surfaces of the veneerin with non-absorbent material and appying pressure thereto, gluing the marginal portion of the head directly to the ring under pressure, and subsequently removing the coverings and enabling the major ortion of the head to become dried and to s rink while rigidly secured to the ring non-removably.

In testimony w ereof I afiix my'signature on the 28th day of ul 1927.

EDWARD C. B EMERMAN. 

